Her name was Royal Bonnie. She came into this world on May 12,1979 She was born in Fairbury Nebraska. She was a huge horse, standing well over 16 hands tall yet she was a gentle as a spring rain. Her voice never failed to greet us every morning when we went to the barn to feed her and turn her out to pasture each day. She had Blue eyes and was the one horse I could trust with a child on her back, a novice rider or a more experienced one. Her health had been on the decline for a while and there seemed there was nothing we could do about it. We were all stumped as to why she wasn't getting better and believe me, we tried everything. 3 different Vets checked her and nobody caught the fact that Bonnie was expecting. Needless to say we were all floored when on June 5, 2004 at about 12:45 AM Bonnie gave birth to a bouncing baby girl (horsemen call little girl horses a Filly) <not being a real horseman I have no idea how to spell that!>). The bad news is, that was the last thing Bonnie ever did. Erik Liljeqrin from Channel 8 did a beautiful story about what happened next...........(press the ">" arrow on the lower left side of the media player, then be patient, it takes time to load then )
This was Bonnie's Miracle one hour after she was born
An orphan foal requires a great deal more care than you might imagine. Bonnie's Miracle must be fed 12 times a day.
"Miracle's handlers need nourishment too, here Michael and Chris chow down on the front porch while Miracle looks on. Note Miracle herself is never far away from her own food.
Two weeks have gone by and now it's time for Miracle's first bath!
Squeeky clean!
Thanks to Michael and Chris Cox without whom, Bonnie's Miracle probably wouldn't have been possible!
Recently we've been letting "miracle" spend some time in our front yard. She's still has a wound on her chest from when she was born so, we keep a T shirt on her to keep the wound clean while it heals. The other day I opened the front door to check on her, and found her asleep on our doormat! It looks like she's making herself right at home.
at is now The 22nd of July, Miricle is six weeks old. She still loves us and she's doing fine.
Miracle one hour old June 5, 2004
Miracle is now two months old
...Below are some shots taken the weekend of Aug 7, 2004. We put them up just so you can keep up with her progress. If you compare them with some of the earlier pictures, you can see how much she has grown in 8 short weeks. As you can see she has started to graze on her own. (She's also started to eat the Furniture<grin>). Most of the danger is past now, her prospect for growing up to carry on her mother's legacy are a lot better now than they were two months ago. She still doesn't know she's a horse!
We thought a little comparison might be in order about now. Our little girl is eating on her own now (and eating and eating, and eating!) and unless something unexpected happens, the rough part is over. We see Miracle every day and her growth wasn't aparent to us until we compared the pictures above. Our little girls is growing up! The latest additions were taken just a day or so short of 9 months.
Finally here are Miracle and family in a picture taken on the 16th of October 2004 about a week before Miracle was five months old. You can see Miracle's dad grazing in the background. We put her in the pasture with her brothers Stormy and Rocky. It took her months to where she would have anything to do with them. She still prefers human to horse company.
these pictures taken Aug 7, 2004
Editor's note. Miricle is five years old now, and I probably should get rid of this and go on to other things. But this story is a good one and Miricle is still here. If you are fishing near her pasture she'll stand next to the fence and visit with you. We figured if you knew her story you might appreciate her more
She's 6 and a half months old here
This is Bonnie's Miracle today.
This page last modified on Thursday, April 09, 2009
